The Inevitable
by Spartan259
Summary: Bucky Barnes has wanted nothing more than to atone for the sins he committed as the Winter Soldier. When the universe is threatened by a mad titan, he will have the chance to do just that. Bucky must come to terms with his past, fight a war in the present, and plan for something he never actually thought about, his future, what it meant. Will one man be able to stop the inevitable?
1. Pieces

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter One**

**The Pieces**

** "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history." **

**\- Mohandas Ghandi**

**Wakanda, throne room:**

"My king," Okoye called to king T'Challa, as he sat upon his throne, "have you seen the news?"

" the aliens in New York? Yes I saw that, " replied T'Challa.

He had seen Tony Stark and two other, unknown men fighting two very powerful extra-terrestrials. Stark was reported MIA later that afternoon.

"There appears to be more going on," continued the Wakandan military leader.

"The king of Wakanda could've guessed that for himself. He didn't think that alien had attacked NYC just because they were in a bad mood.

"We tapped into a call between Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers," T'Challa perked up at that news. He hadn't expected that.

"What were they talking about?" Asked a now curious T'Challa.

"Banner asked Rogers to find the Vision, something about the mind stone being danger," replied Okoye.

After a long pause, T'Challa finally spoke up.

"Wake the White Wolf, if the mind stone is truly in danger, we'll have to send backup."

"How do we even know where to send him?" Questioned Okoye.

"We have kept tabs on every Avenger since the civil war, we know exactly where they are," replied the king.

Just then, two guards brought a case out and set it on a nearby table. Simultaneously, a man with one arm, wearing tattered robes entered the throne room. The case was opened and the man saw the enhanced prosthetic arm lying inside.

"Where'd the fight?" Asked Bucky Barnes.

** Scotland, train station**

Wanda and Vision were blown through the top of the train station, landing in a heap. Wanda, having recovered from the fall, ran over to Vision.

"Come on,' she said, "we have moving,.come on, come on."

"Please leave," implored Vision, clearly in pain.

"You wanted me to stay," responded Wanda defiantly responded, "I'm staying."

Their pursuers had caught up. The two aliens stood directly in front the duo trying to escape. Wanda stood, ready to make a final stand. A train blew last the combatants, the train passed and the female alien looked to be in disbelief. Not because of Wand, no, something behind her. Wanda turned her head to the silhouette of a man standing across the tracks. The female pursued three her spear at the newcomer, but he easily sidestepped it and caught it. The man stepped forward revealing none other than... Bucky Barnes? Wanda's mind quickly turned from surprise to gratitude as Bucky leapt across the track,speedster still in hand. The former Winter Soldier was, as with many things, known for his close quarters combat prowess.

Bucky landed in a diving roll, he opened his attack with a slash across the male Allen's chest and a stab to his stomach. The grey-faced freak let out a scream of pain. Bucky kicked the wounded warrior back and turned his attention to his other opponent. His for disarmed him with a well placed kick that sent the spear flying. Bucky reacted faster than the blue-haired alien anticipated. He stunned her with hard man from his metal arm. Seeing his opportunity, Bucky drew his 45. Cal 1911 pistol and quickly shot her in the knee. She let out a help of surprise and pain. _These aliens are clearly tough. B_ucky thought to himself, _but not invincible seeing as one both were bleeding profusely._

The alien head butted Bucky and shoved him backward. Bucky was about to take another shot when he heard a "Whooosh " overhead. The White Wolf looked back to see the Falcon, Sam Wilson, flying in to join the fray. The new combatant used his momentum to kick the remaining foe back toward her wounded comrade.

"I had it under control," said Bucky, keep in his 1911 aimed at the wounded aliens.

"Sure you did, Ice box," replied the air force veteran.

Running up to join the pair was Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers, Bucky's closest friend and the one who helped him remember who he was.

"We don't want to kill you," stated Natasha.

" But we will, " finished Bucky.

"You'll never get the chance again," said the female alien before a blue beam engulfed the two intruders. The next moment , they were gone.

**above Scotland, rogue Avengers' quinjet**

Sam set Vision down on one of seats in the quinjet and went towards the cockpit.

"Do we have a destination in mind, Cap?" He asked.

" Home, " Steve replied simply.

Sam smiled and typed in the coordinates for the Avengers' compound in upstate New York.

during the chaos of getting Wanda and Vision on the quinjet, Bucky and Steve hadn't even had time to exchange greetings. Steve approached his old friend.

"It's good to see you again, Buck," he said.

"It's good to see you to," replied Bucky.

Steve embraced the man who he considered his brother; Bucky reciprocated.

"I need to make a call," said Bucky.

Steve nodded and Bucky turned on his long-range communicator.

"This is White Wolf to T'Challa, does anyone read, over."

A voice came clearly through the device's speaker.

"We read you loud and clear, White Wolf, over ," came T'Challa's voice.

"Vision and Scarlet Witch have been extracted, mind stone secure, over," It was remarkable how militaristic Bucky's report was.

"Understood, well done, White Wolf," T'Challa ended the call.

"So, said Natasha, "White Wolf, huh?"

Bucky nodded.

" I like it, " she said, "it's got a nice ring to it."

**Avengers compound, just after rescue of Wanda Maximoff and Vision.**

"Well I think you look great. "

Bruce Banner entered the room. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Yeah, um, I'm back," continued the renowned scientist.

"Hi, Bruce," was all Nat could manage.

She was experiencing many different emotions at the moment. She wanted to hug him and choke him out; mainly the second one. There was one thing she knew for sure, her and Bruce were no longer a couple. He had left. He'd shown what was more important to him, so it was finished.

"This is awkward," Sam said to Bucky, who nodded in agreement.

"Thanos has the biggest army in the universe and he is not going to stop until he gets... Vision's stone," Bruce had informed everyone of the situation they were all now in.

"Then we have to protect it," sated Nat.

It was that kind of loyalty that made Bucky question whether he truly belonged there or not.

"No," said Vision, "we have to destroy it."

Everyone looked at him like he was insane, even Bucky.

"I've been giving a great deal of thought to this entity in my head, about its origins," elaborated the android, "... and also about its composition; I believe that if we expose it to a power source with a similar energy signature, its molecular integrity could fail."

The entire time he said this, he looked right at Wanda. She knew what he wanted her to do.

"And you along with it," she responded, "Vis, we're not having this talk; it's out of the question."

Vision ran his hands through Wanda's hair.

"It is the only way," he said, still not giving up on his idea.

Wanda was clearly infuriated that Vision wouldn't give up on his plan. They only had each other for a short time and he was already prepared to die. In a blind rage, she stormed out of the room. Vision continued as if nothing had happened.

"One life cannot stand in the way of saving half the galaxy," he continued.

"But it should," Steve would not let Vision got through with this, no matter what he said; "we don't trade lives."

"Captain, seventy years ago you laid down your life to save how many millions of people, how is this any different?" The android presses.

"Because you might have a choice," said Bruce, "Your mind is complex overlay of many personalities."

"Uhhh," this all went right over Sam's head.

"His mind is made up of the minds of Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me."

"So you're saying..." Cap didn't have to finish his question before Banner answered it.

"If we find a way to safely remove the stone, there will still be a lot of Vision left, maybe the best parts." Bruce explained.

"Can you do it?" asked Rhodes.

"Not me, not here," replied the doctor.

"Well you better find someone and somewhere quick," replied Rhodes.

Bucky perked up, he happened to know the location of the smartest human that was still on earth.

"I know someone, and I know somewhere," he said.

The rouge Avengers had sent the last hour packing weapons and other supplies. Bucky packed several weapons including an M4A1, his 1911, an LMG he had used during the Avengers civil war, and two combat knives. Nat had her Glock 17, widow bites, and collapsible batons. Sam loaded his wing suit and his two Uzis. Rhodes had his war machine suit plus a 9mm for emergencies. All of the other Avengers didn't actually use physical weaponry that was on-site.

"Alright everyone," called out Steve, "we're wheels-up in an hour."

Bucky looked around seeing everyone socializing and just being friendly. Their shared shared experiences and team cohesion made him wonder whether or not he should have gone back to Wakanda. He was clearly an outsider; only Steve and Nat had the slightest understanding of what he had gone through as the winter soldier. He had, as Nat would say, "red in his ledger," and, like her, he planned on wiping it out.

**" We are not the makers of history, we are made by history. "**

**-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.**

_To be Continued..._


	2. Setting the Board

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Two**

** "Setting the board**

**"War is cruelty, there is no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is, the sooner it's over."**

**\- William T. Sherman**

**Avengers compound, upstate New York:**

It was officially time to dust off and head for Wakanda. Bucky was rather exited to be going back, even after such a short time. He had a loyal friend in T'Challa, nearly as close as Steve. When they arrived at the compound, they had established a plan, treated the words of Wanda and Vision, and, after two days of planning and healing, stocked the quinjet with plenty of supplies. Wanda had not said a word to Vision since he announced his plan, which was essentially assisted suicide. Though he had only ever been on the opposing side of the purple Android until the incident in Scotland, he did not want Vision to have to pay the ultimate price. He had found love after all. That was something he didn't think he would ever be able to do. Suddenly, Steve interrupted his thoughts.

"Buck," he said, "it's time to go."

Bucky nodded and followed his old friend out to the quinjet. Everyone else had already boarded; it was clear that no one was in a very good mood. Nat had a necklace with an arrow shape on it in her hand. She looked nervous, that was odd, from what he remembered, the black widow didn't get nervous. Wanda sat as far away from Vision as she could, they would need to reconcile for the good of the team. Sam and Rhodes stayed out of any drama. Nat and Banner were still tip toeing around each other. Bucky himself was very clearly an outsider; one could tell just from how most of the others interacted with him.

Sam set up at the controls, "ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking," he said, " keep you seatbelts fastened and tray tables in an upright position, we will be reaching our final destination in roughly ten hours. "

**Ten hours later:**

**Wakanda:**

The quinjet landed right in front T'Challa and his entourage. The party of rouge Avengers exited their vehicle and walked towards the king. As they approached, Bucky overheard Banner and Rhodes talking about how best to greet royalty.

"Should we bow?" Asked Banner.

"Of course, he's a king," replied Rhodes.

"It seems like I'm always thanking you for something," said Steve as he shook hands with T'Challa.

Bruce cleared his throat and bowed; Rhodes looked at him like he was a madman.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

Bruce looked quite scandalized while Sam and Nat had trouble containing their laughter; even Bucky quietly snickered.

"We don't do that here," T'Challa explained to an embarrassed Bruce.

The king quickly changed subjects.

"How big of an assault should we expect?" he asked no one in particular.

"Sir, sir, I think you should expect quite a large attack," said Bruce.

"And they are here for Vision's stone, right?"

"We need to get it out of his head," said Steve.

"Bucky said that you could help us," said Nat.

"Can you?" Asked Sam.

Bucky already knew the answer.

"Lets get Vision to my sister, she will certainly know what to do," said T'Chala.

**Some time later...**

Bucky, and the others, silently observed the two scientists at work.

"The structure is polymorphic," stated T'Challa's sister, Shuri.

"Yeah," said Bruce, "we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially."

"Why didn't you just re-program the synopsis to work collectively?" Asked Shuri, with a devilish grin on her face.

Bruce and Vision both looked stunned at this proposition.

"Because we... didn't think of it," Banner finally responded.

"I'm sure you did your best," quipped Shuri.

"Can you fix it?" Asked Wanda.

"Yes, but their over two-trillion neurons," replied Shuri, "one misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures."

Shuri addressed T'Challa.

"It will take time brother," she stated.

"How long?" Asked Steve.

"As long as you can give me," replied Shuri.

Okoye walked up to the group.

"Something entered the atmosphere," said the Wakandan general.

Sam's voice was heared over the radio.

"Cap," he said, "we've got a problem."

Bucky looked out the window in time to see a large, black object collide with the shield barrier surrounding the city.

"God, I love this place," he remarked.

Vision started to get off of the medical table.

"It's too late," said the android, "we need to destroy the stone now."

"Vision, get your ass back on the bed," ordered Nat.

"We will hold them off," said T'Challa.

"Wanda, as soon as that stone's out of his head, blow it to hell," said Steve.

Wanda nodded in acknowledgment while T'Challa quickly gave out orders.

"Evacuate the city, raise all defenses," he pointed at Steve, "...and get this man a shield."

"Let's suit up," said Cap.

Bucky grabbed his M4 off the wall; he made sure that he had his knives and handgum, and then made his way to the troop transports. He Stood next to Natasha.

"You ready for this?" She asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

**A Short Time Later...**

Steve, Nat, and T'Challa had just returned to the ranks after briefly talking to the enemy leadership, the aliens that Bucky had fought in Scotland. Apparently, he killed one of them.

"Did they Surrender?" Bucky sarcastically asked Steve.

"Not exactly," replied the captain, no joking tone in his voice.

As Bucky prepared for the upcoming battle, he chambered a round in his rifle. Nat stood next to him with an LMG not unlike the one he had used in the Avengers civil war. Steve stood on his other side with two new shields. Behind them, Bruce was in Stark's Hulkbuster suit. Above them, Sam and Rhodey flew by. Everyone heard a cracking noise and saw what appeared to be an army of lizard-men, outriders.

"What the hell," sighed Bucky.

**"The soldier, above all others, prays for peace; for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."**

**\- Douglas MacArthur**

**(A/N: I'm finally writing on a laptop so hopefully that means that the spelling errors have been cut down, reviews are always ****appreciated)**


	3. Opening Salvos

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Three**

**"Opening Salvos"**

**"The objective of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his."**

**\- George S. Patton**

**Wakanda, outskirts of the city**

"Looks like we pissed her off," remarked Nat.

Bucky watched as the outriders threw themselves against the shield barrier. They were somehow even more fanatic than HYDRA or the Chi-Tauri. They didn't care, in any way, if they lived or died. Some of them were horribly burned, others were cut right in half.

"They're killing themselves," observed Okoye.

However, some of the outriders managed to make it through the barrier without killing themselves until they amassed a somewhat large force inside the barrier. The horde then charged forward. T'Chala gave the order to open fire. The Wakandans sent a barrage of laser fire to stop the outriders, killing several of them. Bucky and Nat then began shooting the alien invaders with their rifles. Bucky scored head-shot after head shot as Bruce used the large hand-cannons on his suit to blast away several attackers. Sam flew forward, dual uzis in hand. His small arms fire was doing little to slow the outriders down; so Rhodey flew in to help.

"Alright, back up, Sam, or you'll get your wings singed," said the one-man army.

Rhodey dropped several explosive canisters on the advancing outriders, blowing them to pieces. Everything was going smoothly until, the heroes noticed a new problem, the outriders were circling the shield to flank them and take the stone while meeting minimal resistance.

"Cap, If they circle us," said Bruce, "There's nothing between them and Vision.

"Then we better keep them in front of us," said Steve.

"How do we do that?" asked Okoye.

T'Challa appeared very nervous.

"We open the barrier," he said with clear dread in his voice.

He then contacted his sister.

"On my signal, open Northwest section 17," he ordered.

"Requesting confirmation, my king," responded Shuri, "you said open the barrier."

"On my signal," T'Challa repeated.

"This will be the end of Wakanda," M'Backu stated solemnly.

"Then it will be the nobelist ending in history," replied Okoye with steel in her voice.

Bucky nodded at Steve and Nat, bracing himself for the charge. T'Challa then stepped forward.

"WAKANDA FOREVER!"

Everyone charged forward to face there enemy in close combat as the shield in front of them dropped and outriders piled in. Steve and T'Challa took the lead as they leaped into battle, engaging the outrider in hand-to-hand combat. Bucky quickly moved from one target to another, bringing them down with a quick burst of gunfire to head. Bruce soared in with his Hulkbuster crushing several aliens and incinerating many more with his cannons. All around them, the Wakandans and outriders engaged in brutal melee combat. Nat was bringing down many foes with her Glock but was knocked down to the ground next to Okoye. Rhodey was using every weapon in his large arsenal when he was knocked out the sky by what appeared to be Hulk's evil cousin while Bruce was overwhelmed by the shear number of outriders attacking him. As Bucky shot another enemy, his M4 was knocked from his hand and he was tackled to the ground; Bucky quickly stabbed the outrider in the neck but noticed the growing number of aliens surrounding him.

Everything seemed at its worst when, suddenly, a multi-colored beam struck the ground, blowing many outriders away. A spinning axe flew out of the beam; it struck the outriders that were swarming the heroes. The axe then returned to glowing beam it faded to reveal the god of thunder, thor, as well as a raccoon hefting a laser rifle and a living tree. Bruce was back on his feet, the helmet of the suit retracted to show his exited face.

"You guys are so screwed now!" he said with delight in his voice.

Everyone stood up and looked on, stunned as the trio charges into battle. Even the alien leaders looked terrified.

"Bring me Thanos!" yelled the mighty Asgardian as he leaped in the air summoning a lightning storm.

The tides had turned.

Thor brought his axe down causing a blast of lightning that scorched dozens of outriders. The heros all stood up with renewed vigor. Steve T'Challa, and Okoye continued to lead the main offensive in cloe combat, Rhodey was back in the air, he and Sam then continued to provide air support to those on the ground.

Bucky was fighting next to the raccoon as a large force of outriders closed in around them. Thinking fast, he grabbed the raccoon by the back and began spinning. The raccoon caught on and soon both M4 and laser were blasting away anything that came close in hellfire of hot lead and heated plasma. Once the danger was eliminated, Bucky dropped the raccoon and began taking down individual targets.

"How much for the gun?" asked the raccoon.

"Not for sale," Bucky briskly replied.

"Alright," it responded, "how much for the arm."

Bucky rolled his eyes at the raccoon's antics and walked away to take on more hostiles. As he turned, he saw Steve fighting side-by-side with Thor and _Oh no.._

Giant saw blades had dug under the shield and now reemerged to cut down anyone who was in their collective path. Several Wakandan Soldiers were shredded to bits as the blades continued, at different speeds, their push forward. Several blades were moving towards Bucky, who, once again, had to think fast in order to survive. He rushed towards the raccoon, who would be unable to escape the blades, grabbed his back once again, and dove into a nearby ditch as a blade passed over them. Meanwhile, Sam and Rhodey both attempted to stop the blades but made no progress whatsoever. Bucky poked his head up and immediately regretted it; he saw Nat and Okoye standing in the field of battle with nowhere to run, the saw blades were closing in and it appeared as though they were bracing themselves for the inevitable, he couldn't watch two women, whom he had grown rather close to, die. Bucky looked at the raccoon.

"Stay here," he ordered.

Bucky sprinted out at superhuman speed, for he was far faster than any average human being. As Bucky raced towards the two warriors, time seemed to slow down. As he ran, Bucky threw an explosive charge several yards from Nat and Okoye; the blast created a sizable hole in the ground, which Nat noticed.

"Come on!" she yelled at Okoye.

The three of them piled into the hole with no time to spare. T'Challa and Steve, however, were not so lucky, they were two far away from anywhere to take cover. They braced themselves for the gruesome death that awaited them when Wanda jumped in front of them. She used her powers to their full extent, stopping many of the blades; she then used her telekinesis to pick them up and crush several outriders with them.

"Thanks, Buck," said Nat as she sat up, "I owe you one; without you, we both would've been torn to bits."

"Don't mention it," replied Bucky, thinking about all the time had almost killed Natasha; he didn't believe that she owed him anything seeing as she was only alive because others had distracted him.

As the trio got out of the hole, they noticed the destruction that Wanda had caused.

"I think we all owe her one," said Bucky.

"Why was she up there this whole time?" asked Okoye, pointing at Wanda and the destruction surrounding her.

Sam, as if to answer her question, saw Vision and one of the aliens from Scotland tumbling out of a window.

"Guys," he said, "we've got a Vision situation."

"Someone get to Vision!" Steve frantically ordered as he punched an outrider with his shield.

Everyone, Steve included, had already rejoined the battle, therefore most were not in a position to help

"I'm on my way," said Wanda.

But before she could move, the female alien from Scotland, Proxima Midnight, hit her in the head, sending her tumbling into a nearby ditch. Midnight stood over Wanda.

"He'll die alone, as will you," she stated.

"She's not alone," said Nat as she approached Midnight.

Behind Thanos' underling, stood Bucky with his rifle leveled at the Alien's head. Midnight let out a grunt of frustration and threw her spear at Bucky, knocking the M4 out of his hands. Midnight then turned her attention to Nat, the two exchanged blows until Bucky kicked Midnight in the back of the head, spun, and kicked her spine, propelling her towards Nat who, using the opening, punched Midnight in the face repeatedly until Midnight kicked her to the ground. The alien turned around just as Bucky hit her with a hook punch from his metal arm; the force of the blow propelled Midnight into the wall of the ditch. Midnight used both of her legs to kick Bucky back as he tried to advance towards her. Midnight then tackled Nat and attempted to stab her with a large dagger, but the blade was blocked by Nat's batons. As the blade inched closer to Nat's throat, Bucky used his metal arm to pull back Midnight's head, leaving her own throat very vulnerable. Bucky took out his combat knife and plunged it deep into her throat, causing blue blood to squirt upwards as if her throat was a fountain. As the alien's still bleeding body fell to the ground, Nat wiped off some of the blood from her face.

"I guess I owe you twice now," she said.

"Nah, I still owe you one for all the times I tried to kill you," replied Bucky, never imagining that one could talk about such things so casually.

"Don't sweat it," she replied giving him a light hug.

Bucky was caught off guard by this gesture but wrapped his own arms around her. As they were still embracing, they heard Steve over the radio.

"Everyone, on my position," he said.

"On our way," replied Bucky.

"Come on, Wanda," said Nat as they ran for Steve's position.

When they did arrive, Wanda immediately went by Vision's side. Bucky and Nat stood with Steve and Sam. The wind started to pick up.

"What the hell," said Nat.

Near Bruce, a wormhole opened up, and out of that wormhole, stepped Thanos, the mad titan.

"Cap," said Bruce, "I see him."

Bucky loaded a fresh mag into his rifle.

Steve took the lead.

"eyes up stay sharp."

**"we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."**

**\- Winston Churchill**

**(A/N: feedback is always ****appreciated, I will be happy to take any constructive ****criticism**** or answer any questions)**


	4. Checkmate

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter four**

**"Checkmate"**

**"An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war."**

**\- Montesquieu**

**Wakanda, forests near Shuri's lab:**

Thanos, the mad titan, strode into the clearing. There was no emotion on his face except pure determination. The Avengers all had a similar look on their face. Bucky knew that the goal was not to stop Thanos, but to buy Wanda enough time to destroy Vision's stone. Not a pleasant objective, especially for Vision and Wanda, but they would do what it took.

"Eyes up," said Steve, "Stay sharp."

"Bruce lunged at Thanos, but the Hulkbuster simply fazed through him a partially into the side of the mountain. Steve was thrown backwards in a purple cloud. T'Challa jumped at him but Thanos caught him and hit hit him to the ground with enough force to kill a regular man. Sam was knocked out the sky like he was little more than a gnat. All while this was happening, Wanda was slowly destroying the mind stone.

Bucky and Rhodey unloaded their collective munitions on Thanos but it little effect due the titan blocking most of the gunfire. Thanos cast Rhodey aside and shut down his suit. Bucky let out a war cry as he charged forward, M4 blazing until he was thrown back a purple cloud. Okoye threw her spear Thanos but he had it frozen in the air. He then eliminated Nat and Okoye in one fell got up for one more bout with the titan. He ducked under a blow from Thanos and landed two hits in before Thanos attempted to close fist his to blow Steve away. But despite Thanos' best effort, Steve held the gauntlet open. Thanos was beyond surprised when a mere human was able to halt him for even a second. Thanos had enough when he punched Steve with all the force he could muster; Steve fell to the ground, motionless.

To the mad titan's surprise, once again, a puny Earthling stood in the way of his goal. That Earthling was Jame Bucannon Barnes. Bucky had his 1911 in his right hand and his knife in his left. He knew his efforts were futile but he wouldn't give up, not if there was breath in his lungs.

Bucky charged forward once again, dodging an attack from the power stone and fired two rounds st Thanos, both of which bounced harmlessly of off his chest. The White Wolf leaped at Thanos who raised his arm to block the two more rounds that sought to end his life, causing cuts to form on his arm. Bucky grabbed Thanos' arm and jammed his knife into his forearm, drawing even more blood. Thanos pushed Bucky back several feet, dislodged the knife from his arm, and returned it to Bucky. The knife now jutted out of his stomach. Blood was coming out of Bucky's mouth; he fired his last three rounds, none of them having any effect. As Thanos closed in, Bucky threw a left hook, his metal arm hit Thanos with enough force for Thanos' head to jerk back slightly. Bucky threw a right hook and then went for another left power hit. Thanos caught Bucky's metal arm and in less than a second, ripped it off up to his elbow. Before Bucky could react, Bucky saw Thanos' arm cock back and surge forward. That's when everything went black.

* * *

Bucky woke up to see Nat kneeling beside him. He heard Steve's voice nearby.

"Thor, where did he go... Thor?"

The god of thunder gave no response, he simply stared at the bloodied axe on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Nat asked softly, her eyes lingering on what was left of his prosthetic arm and the bleeding stomach.

"I'll live," replied Bucky.

Nat helped him up when heard Steve's voice behind him.

"Buck..."

His voice sounded... nervous. Steve wasn't often nervous. Bucky turned around

"Steve?"

Steve disappeared right before his eyes, disintegrating into dust. Bucky's eyes went wide, his mouth agape.

Nearby, T'Challa was helping Okoye up.

"Up, this is no place to die," he said.

As he pulled her up, she disintegrated into nothingness, leaving a shocked T'Challa behind.

Rhodey was calling out for Sam, little did he know, Sam had been reduced to Ash.

For the second time, Rocket Raccoon was powerless to save Groot from death.

Wanda was next to Vision's dead body when she noticed her own body start to disappear. She sighed, hoping that she would see Vision again.

The survivors gathered near Vision's body. Them being Bucky, Nat, T'Challa, Bruce, Rhodey, and Rocket.

"What is this, what the hell is happening?" Rhodey frantically asked.

Everyone, Rhodey included, already knew the answer deep down.

They lost. The Avengers lost.

**"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure."**

**\- George E. Woodberry**

**"Anyone can deal with victory. Only the mighty can bear defeat."**

**\- Adolf Hitler**

**(A/N: This chapter is hugely important so I decided to use an extra quote. Also, sorry for the shorter chapter.)**


	5. Aftermath

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Five**

**"Aftermath"**

**""I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence." **

**\- Alyson Noel**

**Wakanda, Shuri's lab:**

Nat helped Bucky through the halls of Shuri's lab, with the rest of the team behind them.

"Shuri!" yelled Nat.

No response.

"Shuri!" she repeated.

T'Challa ran in front of everyone. The panic evident in his eyes. As they moved forward, Bucky and Nat passed the bodies of two dead Wakandans as they entered the room they had left Vision in. Next to the bed, there were two piles of dust and a distraught T'Challa.

"Oh no," murmured Bucky as he realized what he was looking at.

T'Challa stayed knelt on the ground, tears threatening to spill out. The others finally made it ti the scene.

"We need to find help for James!" said Natasha.

_James, _thought Bucky,_ when was the last time someone called me that?_

It was clear that Bucky needed medical attention, his stomach wound was still bleeding and he had a mid-level concussion. Bucky also now realized that his struggle against Thanos had been fruitless; sure he's made him bleed but in the end, Thanos just snapped Bucky's vibranium arm. It did take the titan a fair amount of effort but who else could break vibranium with their bare hands. This inner turmoil did not help Bucky's state one bit.

"I think I can handle this," said Bruce, who knew how to heal far worse injuries than this.

Bucky was put onto the bed and Bruce went to work on the stab wound in his stomach. T'Challa was still staring at the pile of ash that used to be his sister.

"Alright," said Bruce, "this isn't going to feel great."

"I've dealt with worse," Bucky said through clenched teeth.

With that, Bruce did his work.

* * *

**Three days later...**

Bucky's recovery had been remarkably fast but, then again, he was a super soldier. His arm had been repaired and, thanks to Wakandas abundance of vibranium, was as good as new. However, the mental injuries lingered. He had endured more traumatic experiences then most of the galaxy's population, but he rarely lost a fight. And his most recent fight had been an absolute beat down, which had never happened to him before. Thanos had wiped the floor with him and then he went on to succeed at his objective. Bucky's struggle had been inconsequential. His failure had led to the deaths of his best friend and trillions of others. These were the thoughts that filled Bucky's head as he walked towards the quinjet with a dark look on his face.

"What will you do?" he asked T'Challa, who watched them board the jet.

"We will rebuild," responded the king.

Despite the fact that he wore his royal garbs and was groomed to perfection, the air of sadness still lingered around him.

"Until we meet again," said Bucky.

The two who had once been mortal enemies embraced. as good friends

Bucky entered the quinjet with Rhodey at the controls.

"Where are we going?" Asked Bucky.

"Back to the compound, replied Rhodes curtly.

Bucky nodded and took a seat between Nat and Thor. Thor just stared off into the distance, Bruce seemed to be simmering with anger, and Nat was in a stunned silence. Bucky himself couldn't believe what had happened; he now understood how Steve had felt when he had been blasted out of that train back in the war. That feeling of having to watch your friend die and be completely helpless to stop it. That was how he felt, helpless.

* * *

**Avengers' compound, upstate New York**

The remainder of the Avengers entered the compound.

"What now?" asked Rocket.

"What now?" that was was the question on everybody's mind. How could they fix this? They had failed and it had cost half the universe's lives. For several moments, no one responded to Rocket's question. Thor just stormed off. Bucky picked up the remote for one of the televisions in the room.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Rhodey.

"We need to see," said Bucky quietly.

He flipped on the TV.

"World governments are still in chaos as new census reports are indicating over one billion people vanished worldwide with the number still climbing." said the newscaster. "As of now we have no idea what has caused all of these vanishings, though there are several theories ranging from acts of God to a North Korean bio-weapon."

Nat turned in off.

"We need to make a statement," said Bucky.

"What?" said Nat, confused.

"A statement," repeated Bucky, "people deserve to know why their loved ones are disappearing literally into dust."

"Most of us are considered international war criminals," responded Nat, "yourself included."

"Alright, who's the most publicly trusted person here?" Bucky persisted.

"Probably Thor or myself and I have no interest in doing that," said Rhodey.

"I doubt Thor does either, did you see him on the quinjet? he looked like he was about to burst," said Bruce.

"FINE!" Bucky snapped, "I'll do it myself if I have to, I don't want to but it's getting done."

Everyone glanced at each other nervously.

"I need keys to one of the cars in the garage," said Bucky.

"Good luck," said Nat as she tossed him the keys to Stark's Porsche Spyder.

"You'll need it," she added under her breath as he walked out.

* * *

Bucky gunned it down the highway to New York City. Why did no one else care enough to tell the truth? he thought angrily. He had been lied to for most of his life, in fact, Bucky had enough of lies and deception for multiple lifetimes. He had the radio in the car turned to a news channel.

"Tens of thousands of missing reports are coming to governments every hour and they don't seem to be slowing down." They said

In front of him, New York City came into view. Even though he was too far away to make any detailed observations, a air of desolation hung of the city. As he drove through NYC's normally thriving streets, all he saw was empty cars and piles of dust of sidewalks being scattered by the light wind. It had been several days since the snap but people still refused to come outside; those who were left likely just wanted to be alone enough to process what had happened.

At one point, Bucky went to turn the car down a corner but was blocked by the remains of a smoldering 747. One of the wings had gouged a scar through the apartment building that sat on the street corner. The rest of it lay on its' side across the street, still smoldering even days later.

"The pilot must've been vanished," Bucky said to himself quietly, not quite believing the scene before him.

Bucky had been through the battlefields of World War Two, fought countless battles and eliminated countless targets, as well as having fought in battles of super-human scale. But he had never seen the post-apocalyptic state that New York was in anywhere or at any time during his many exploits.

Finally, he found a news station. It was the one he had turned on when they had all arrived back at the compound. He parked the car in front and simply walked right through the doors.

No one was there at reception to official have him let in so he just let himself by and looked for someone who appeared in charge. He found her in the studio. She was hunched over a computer on a desk that had been dragged in there to allow for easier communication between reporters and those getting reports. Bucky walked up to the desk and cleared his throat in an effort to get her attention.

"What do you want?" She asked without looking up.

"I have some information about the vanishings," Bucky responded.

Now she looked up. Her face went from interested to confused and then to scared when she saw who it was that stood before her. The Winter Soldier.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was shky.

The others in the room turned to look at the exchange, even the reporter who was delivering any new news paused slightly as he saw who it was that had entered. All around him, Bucky heard surprised whispers.

"Is that-"

"What's he doing here."

"Is he here to kill us?"

Bucky decided to address everyone before the whispers got to out of had.

"Calm down, I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to give the information on how this all happened." Bucky assured the group of reporters and analysts around him.

The woman he had originally approached, one Joanna Abbott, as was indicated by the name plate on her desk, was the first to answer back.

"So, what is it? Why are our loved ones disappearing into thin air?" She asked

"Was it HYDRA?" one voice called.

"Or China?" inquired another.

Bucky went on to explain the infinity stones, Thanos, and his acquisition of the last of the stones. He knew how far fetched the story seemed but his audience understood that they already had seem aliens led by a Norse god attack New York, so nothing really seemed far-fetched to them anymore. By the time he was done, everyone around him sat with their mouths agape at Bucky's tale. The reporter had done a remarkable job at not seeming distracted by Bucky's new information.

"So this Thanos wanted to wipe out half of the universe's population to keep the use of natural resources in check?" Joanna inquired.

"Yes, that's right." Bucky answered. "I know it doesn't sound believable, especially coming from someone with a reputation like mine, but it's the truth." He continued, "I think everyone deserves to know why the people around them turned to dust; and I do want to be the one to inform them."

"Well said, Mr. Barnes," said Joanna, "I personally think it's a fine idea to have you address the public."

"He doesn't' exactly have the best reputation with the public," one man said.

"Most of the big-name Avengers are dead, my best friend included." Bucky snapped back at the man. "I'm the only one left who's willing to speak to the public."

No one had any words to respond to that. Only after a long pause did Joanna, who was clearly the one one in charge of what was left of this news team, respond.

"Okay," she said, "we'll put you on in a bit."

* * *

The remainder of the Avengers were spread out on an array of sofas, seats,and stools watching the news. None of them were paying any attention, in fact, most of them were asleep. Through the fog of drowsiness, Natasha heard one sentence from the news broadcaster.

"...And now we turn over to James Barnes, yes ladies and gentlemen, James Barnes. He's here with key information on the vanishings that ravaged us and taken our loved one. Mr. Barnes, the floor is yours."

Nat shot upright instantly.

"Guys... guys look!" she exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look at the TV.

"Thank you, Mr. Burgundy." Bucky opened as the screen cut to him. He was dressed in a sharp, grey suit and his hair was neatly combed. "As many of you know, my name is James Barnes, formerly the Winter Soldier. Many of you may not have the highest opinion of me, and I can't blame you but, what I am about to say is true nonetheless."

Bucky once again recited his exploits against the Mad Titan and who that titan was. He explained the infinity stones and their cosmic power.

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, half of the universe's population faded from existence." Bucky continued. "In that fifty percent were some of Earth's mightiest heroes. Captain America, my best friend, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch, as well as the Vision were all killed by Thanos." It pained Bucky to use his fallen comrades' superhero aliases instead of their real names. "Tony Stark is also missing without a trace, as many of you know."

He could've ended it there. He had reported the information to the public that they needed to here yet, he still felt like there was more to say.

"But don't worry, through this adversity, we will rebuild." Bucky hurried to reassure his audience, he didn't want to end his report on a bad note. "And I give you my word, whatever that may mean to you, that myself, as well as the Avengers, will spearhead the effort to restore humanity, whatever that ends up meaning. Whatever it takes."

**"We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken."**

**\- John Green**


	6. Family Reunion

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Six**

**"Family Reunion"**

**"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."**

**-Robert Frost**

**Avenger's compound, Upstate New York**

Bucky had riven back to the compound in a much better mood than when he'd left. He'd done it. He'd given the people the truth they deserved to here. Truth was too rare of a commodity in Bucky's life. He parked the car in the compound's large garage and went inside, curious to see how the others would react to his time on the air. When he entered into the living room, several heads snapped up to see him. Natasha seemed particularly happy to see him. A fact that greatly pleased Bucky himself.

"Hey, you're back!" exclaimed Bruce.

"Look who's blossomed into a social butterfly," said Rocket.

"Good job, man." said Rhodey.

Despite the praise the others gave him, Natasha's silent gaze full of adoration was the profound to Bucky. Bucky looked around the room and noticed something. Thor wasn't there.

"Where's Thor?" he asked.

"He's still skulking in his room." answered Rocket.

Bucky nodded. The thunder god had never experienced such complete and total failure. Bucky obviously didn't blame, Bucky blamed himself. Just as Thor was the only one to think he was ultimately guilty of the Avenger's failure. Eventually he'd come to terms with it, thought Bucky.

"Anyways," said Bruce, "good job."

"Ya," Rhodey affirmed, "you were braver than me. You actually went out and told the public what happened."

"Thanks." Replied Bucky, "I was just doing what I thought was right."

* * *

Bucky sat on his bed cleaning his 45. handgun. It was a habit of his to clean his weapons when he was bored or, in this case, deep in thought. He would've gone to bed but, there was to much on his mind; so he sat in his sweatpants and a white tank-top cleaning a , he heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" Bucky called.

"Guess who," called Natasha back.

Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Can you let me in?" Asked Nat.

Bucky set his 45. on his nightstand and got up; he unlocked the door and opened it up.

"What brings you to my humble abode?" Bucky asked as Nat walked in and sat on his bed.

Natasha grimaced in an almost embarrassed fashion.

"I just wanted to talk to you privately, I didn't want to seem sappy or whatever." She responded.

Bucky smiled. Natasha, always stoic, always tough.

"Well?" Bucky prompted.

"I just wanted to say that... that Steve would've been proud of what you did."

The mood between the two quickly turned somber.

"What you did... Steve would've done the exact same thing." Natasha continued.

Bucky nodded.

"It's... it's only been a week but... but I miss him." said Bucky. "It's weird, you now, first Steve loses me to HYDRA but now I guess things have come full circle. I wonder if this is how Steve felt after watching me get blown out of that train back in '44."

Natasha patted him on the back.

"There's nothing you can do about that now, all we can do is try to move on." She said.

"I meant it when I said that I'd try to fix this," said Bucky. "I haven't the slightest clue how to do it or even if anyone will help but... but I have to."

"I understand," replied Natasha, "I'll help however I can."

"We just need to find Thanos, he has the stones, if we get those then maybe we can reverse the snap." Bucky's rough plan. began to formulate.

"One problem, we have no idea where Thanos could be," Nat observed.

"I wish Stark was here. He'd probably have some ridiculous scientific jargon that would somehow end up working." said Bucky.

"Are you sure you want Tony here?" Nat asked incredulously, "he'd probably just want to kill you."

Bucky nodded, reliving the bitter memories from he had last met Tony Stark.

"Well," he said, "he gone either way."

* * *

The following night, Bucky found himself in his bathroom. His beard had grown quite shaggy and unruly, he decided it was time for a clean-up. As he set the razor down, he looked in the mirror. His beard was gone, he was clean shaven like he was during the war. His hair was still long, but he had grown to like it that way. It also kept reminding him of his time as HYDRA's Winter Soldier.

He stared in the mirror, a thousand questions flying through his head. _What if I had been stronger? What if I hadn't been turned into a cybernetic monster? What if I died in the fall, or better yet, didn't fall at all? What if I had been able to stop the mad titan?_ As these thoughts piled up, Nat burst into his room.

"Come quick!" she exclaimed, "You need to see this."

He threw a leather jacket over his tank top and rushed out of his room. He saw Rhodey exiting his own room with a similarly perplexed expression on his face.

"What's going on?" asked Bucky.

"No idea," Rhodey responded curtly.

The two of them walked into the living where they met the other Avengers as well as Pepper Potts., who looked even more disheveled than Thor, who none of them hadn't seen since they arrived at the compound.

"What is happening?" She asked.

"We don't know," replied Bruce.

"It sounds like... like..." Rocket trailed off.

They all went out into the large lawn. Before them, a spaceship was being carried being brought down to the ground by a glowing, fiery figure. Rocket seemed particularly surprised to see the ship.

"Is that...?" He stammered.

Truth be told, he didn't finish his question because he already knew the answer. He could recognize the Milano anywhere.

"I saw it out my window," Nat explained, "you guys really need to pay more attention." She added.

The glowing figure set the ship down and the fire faded, revealing blonde woman clad in an odd, skintight outfit. The Milano's hatch opened, revealing three figures. The first one they saw was exit the ship was none other than Tony Stark.

"Oh my God," gasped Pepper before she sprinted forward as fast as she could.

She wrapped her arms around Tony, crying into his shoulder. She looked up and shocked at how pale he looked, how sunken his cheeks were. He clearly had been injured and not found the proper treatment. Not to mention the clear signs of starvation.

"It's okay," said Tony, "it's okay, I'm back."

The other Avengers now stood before the ship. Rocket dashed forward when he saw who the other two inhabitants of the Milano were. The raccoon wrapped his arms around Peter Quill's leg. The interplanetary outlaw was momentarily taken aback by the normally gruff demolitions expert but quickly regained his own composure.

"What happened? Where's Groot" he asked.

"Groot's... Groot's gone." answered Rocket, his voiced heavy with sadness as he took in to account Peter's disheveled appearance that looked no better that Tony .

Peter nodded, tears in his eyes. Recent events, especially one particular event, had nearly caused him to completely break down. Now, with the news of another one of his crew member's death, he once again found himself on the brink.

"What about Gamora, and Drax, and Mantis?" Rocket inquired.

Peter's breath caught in his throat.

"They're gone." He said, "they're all gone."

Nebula stood apart from the two reuniting friends. She didn't want to intrude on their moment.

Rhodey embraced Tony. He had thought that his best friend had certainly died since there had been no word on him since before the snap except that he had gone missing in the two-man attack on New York.

"Tony," he said emotionally.

"Hey, pal," said Tony quietly as he returned Rhodey's embrace.

Bruce also came up to Tony and they exchanged hugs. Tony looked at Bucky, who had been standing back the entire time, content to let others talk to Tony. Tony gave him an odd look but, to Bucky's relief, didn't say anything, or try to kill him.

"I knew you guys missed me." Tony wheezed. "Where's Steve?"

The mood instantly sobered. Peter, Rocket, and Nebula joined the circle that had gathered around Tony.

'He's gone," Bucky spoke up now, as he thought it would be most appropriate if he were to tell him of Steve's fate.

"Thanos?" Tony inquired.

Several heads nodded morosely. Tony put his head in his hands.

"Let's go inside." Tony said.

* * *

"It's been twenty-three days since Thanos came to Earth." said Rhodey.

"World governments are in pieces, the parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he would do, Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures." Nat informed Tony.

It was true. New figures showed that a little over 3.5 billion people had vanished. The number was still climbing, though much slower than before.

"Where is he now? Where?" Tony inquired.

Bucky crossed his arms and set his eyes on his shoes.

"We don't know," he said, "he just... walked through a portal and was gone just like that."

"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked, looking at Thor.

"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed," said Rocket, "which, of course, he did but, there's a lot of that going around, ant there?

"Honestly, until this exact second I thought you were build-a-bear," said Tony.

"Maybe I am," Rocket responded.

"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks, trying to trace him, track where he might've gone, we haven't found anything." said Bucky, "You fought him..."

"Cool it, Manchurian Candidate," snapped Tony, "I didn't fight him, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleaker Street magician gave away the stone, there was no fight!"

"Did he say anything, anything at all that could hint as to where he might've gone?" Bucky persisted.

Ton threw his hands up in surrender.

"I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision, didn't want to believe it." Tony started.

"Come on, Stark, I'm gonna need you to focus." Bucky probed.

"Oh will you just can it, Ivan? Why are you even here anyways? Don't you have some politician to assassinate, or something?" Tony snapped.

"Low blow," Bucky heard Rhodey mumble.

"Why are you here when we could get Steve? Someone who might actually be somewhat helpful or trustworthy. Not some ninety-year-old cyborg assassin with trust issues and a boner for murder!" Tony continued his rant.

"I ask myself that sometimes too," said Bucky calmly.

Tony kept an accusing finger pointed at Bucky.

"I'll bet you do," he said quietly before starting to fall back, only to be caught by Rhodey.

"Hey, come on, Tony, let's get you out of here." Rhodey admonished.

It was clear that the malnourished was starting to truly take it's toll. Peter was at a similarly perilous point. Meaning that the other two remaining Guardians were distracted from the the verbal scuffle between Tony and Bucky by helping their stricken comrade.

"I'll get him to the medical bay," Nebula told Rocket.

She followed Rhodey, who was half-carrying Tony and being followed by a very concerned Pepper. Silence then reigned for a long moment

"I'd better go take care of them," said Bruce.

The scientist hurried after them. They put the two heroes in beds and hooked them up to infusion pumps to restore lost stayed by Tony's side while Rocket stayed by Peter's.

"Bruce gave them sedatives," Rhodey informed the group waiting outside the room where Bruce was caring for them. "They'll both probably be out for the rest of the day."

"You guys take care of them and I'll bring some Xorrian elixir when I come back." said the woman they now knew to be named Carol Danvers.

With that, she briskly walked off.

"Where are you going?" Asked Bucky.

"To kill Thanos," she replied coldly.

Bucky and Nat both looked at each other strangely. This Carol figure seemed in over her head. Nat went after her.

"You know, we normally work as a team here and, between you and me, morale's a little fragile," she said sensibly.

"We understand that up there's is more your area of expertise but this is still our fight," Bucky stated.

"Do you even know where he is?" Rhodey asked from behind them.

"I know people who might," Carol replied.

"Don't bother," said Nebula, who hadn't said much until this point, "I can tell you where Thanos is."

Her eyes seemed lost in memory.

"Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. And when he worked he talked about his great plan." She continued, her voice full of the sadness and suffering caused by what she had gone through. "Even disassembled I wanted to please him. I'd ask, 'where would we go when his plan was complete?' His answer was always the same. 'To the garden."

Silence hung between the group.

"That's cute," remarked Rhodey, "Thanos has a retirement plan."

* * *

The full group had assembled in the main living room. Bruce and Rocket had joined them, as had Thor.

"So where us he?" Bucky asked the question on everyone's mind

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions, no one's ever seen anything like it," said Rocket, who gesture at the holographic map of the universe that was currently zoomed in on Earth. "Until Two days ago, on this planet."

The model zoomed in on a world that looked vaguely similar to Earth, though it had a more balanced land-to-sea ratio.

"Thanos is there," stated Nebula with a distinct air of certainty.

Nat leaned over the holographic model.

"He used the stones again," she observed.

"Hey, hey, hey," Bruce interjected, "we'd be going in shorthanded, you know."

"Thanks for reminding us all of that, Bruce," Bucky remarked lowly.

"He still got the stone so-" Rhodey was interrupted.

"So let's get him," Carol cut in, "and use them to bring everyone back."

"Just like that?" Bruce asked rhetorically.

"Ya," said Bucky, "_just _like that."

"Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this, we owe it to everyone that's not in this room to try." Nat's speech brooked no argument.

Bucky nodded in agreement. He felt as if he owed it to Steve to somehow find a way to bring him back, as he had brought him back from the clutches of HYDRA.

"If we do this how do we know it'll end any differently than before?" Bruce persisted.

"Because last time you didn't have me," Carol responded instantly, with a haughty look on her face.

Rhodey, as well as just about everyone else in the room, rolled their eyes.

"Hey, new girl, everybody in this room is about that superhero life and, if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?" Said Rhodey.

"There are a lot of other planets in the universe," she replied vaguely, "unfortunately they didn't have you guys."

Thor stood up and walked over to Carol. He stood in front of her, seemingly sizing her up. He summoned his mighty ax, Stormbreaker, to him. She met his stare unflinchingly.

"I like this one." He remarked with a smile breaking through his rough exterior.

Bucky felt incredibly happy. They were going, they would make Thanos pay, and, most importantly, they would bring back their friends.

"Let's go get this son of a bitch." He stated with a dangerous resolve echoing in his words.

**"His resolve is not to seem the bravest, but to be."**

**\- Aeschyius**


	7. A Dish Best Served Cold

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Seven**

**"A dish best served Cold"**

**"If you lose a big fight, it will worry you all of your life. It will plague you - until you get your revenge.****"**

**\- Muhammad Ali**

The Milano soared above the clouds, going at speeds that several of the Avengers would've thought impossible.

"First question," Peter called from the front, "how many of you have not been to space?"

Peter and Tony had both made speedy recoveries. Despite this, Tony still adamantly refused to go on what he called a " cocaine-fueled suicide mission." Peter, however, had been practically ecstatic about the chance to exact some vengeance on Thanos.

To answer Peter's question, Bucky, Nat, and Rhodey raised their hand tentatively. Bucky could've sworn he heard Carol laughing from the back of the cockpit.

"Just try not to throw up on my ship," Peter remarked dryly as he accelerated the ship's speed.

The Milano shook violently as it left atmosphere. Before them lay the infinite vastness of space. Stars of bright light interrupting the endless void of black. It was unlike anything Bucky had ever seen.

"We're approaching the jump point," said Nebula.

'Alright," said Rocket, "jumping in three, two, now."

Suddenly, the ship seemed to enter a tube a dazzling and bright colors. Bucky had seen a lot in his life, but he had never seen anything quite so exotically beautiful. Thor, as with most things, was just saddened by what he saw. It reminded him to much of the bifrost, and thus, of Asgard. Thoughts of his former home triggered nothing but sadness and regret now. Peter, on the other hand, was greatly enjoying this. As the Milano surged into the jump, he pumped his fist triumphantly and turned on some of his favorite music. He chose Led Zeppelin, a band that Thor also seemed to like for some reason.

The Milano re-entered real space well outside the planet's orbit. While everyone was waiting for Carol to return, the group mingled around the ship. Bucky reached into his pocket and pulled out an old black-and-white photo. It showed Him and Steve in the hidden SSR base at the bar. They were both laughing at a joke that Dugan told them. Sometimes, he liked to take out that photo just to remember. To remember the war, to remember the Howling Commandos, and, most importantly, to remember Steve. Bucky missed those days. Simpler days. Days when He hadn't been been brainwashed by HYDRA, days when he wasn't plagued by nightmares of the things he had to do.

Natasha walked up next to him and saw the photo in Bucky's hand, as well as the nostalgic expression on his face. She was one of the few people that could even begin to relate to Bucky's experiences. She had gone through plenty of brainwashing and torture at the Red Room, she had also met Bucky during her time being forced to serve Mother Russia and the branch of HYDRA in the Soviet government. Not to mention, she had been close with Steve as well; obviously not as close as Bucky but he had a still been one of her closest friends.

"This is gonna work, James," she attempted to motivate him.

"I know it will," he responded sullenly, "because I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."

Carol returned from her reconnaissance mission shortly thereafter.

"No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind," she reported, "it's just him."

Everyone pondered this. They all vividly remembered their last encounter with the mad titan. He had taken them all on, plus help from other heroes, and triumphed easily. None of them thought that he would need any support to have a good chance of winning this fight.

"And that's enough," said Nebula, echoing the thoughts of everyone inside the ship.

* * *

Peter landed the ship about a mile from where Carol had said that Thanos was living so as to not alert him to their presence. They were just exiting the ship when a very apparent flaw with the plan came to Bucky's mind. There was no plan.

"So, what exactly is the plan?" Asked Rhodey, who was apparently thinking the same thing.

Everyone seemed confused, as if they had thought that the best idea was to just show up at Thanos' front door and beat the crap out of him. Bucky was the first to say anything, surprising everyone including himself.

"I have an idea," he said.

Rhodey made a gesture indicating for him to continue.

"First of all, We'll need to ambush him when he's in the house that Danvers reported and take him on there. So Bruce, we're definitely going to need you in the hulkbutser armor, but first, I think we should have Danvers fly right at him to distract him. That's when Bruce will burst through the wall and, with Rhodey's help, restrain him so he doesn't blow us away with the stones like last time."

There had been a few missions when he'd been the Winter Soldier where he'd had to coordinate group operations. He had been taught tactics and small-unit battle strategy by some of HYDRA's finest tacticians, he knew how to lead an op better than most would've expected of him.

"Then, just to make sure that we don't have to worry about the stones, I want Thor to come in and chop his arm off." Thor smiled in a very sinister manner at that direction. Then Nat, Nebula, Peter, Rocket, and I will come in, we'll take the stones and kill this son of a bitch once and for all!" Bucky finished his plan.

Rhodey and Bruce seemed very surprised to here such a sound plan come from Bucky. Natasha, however, had a knowing smile on her face, a smile which Bucky returned.

"Does this guy usually make the plans?" Rocket asked no one in particular.

"No," responded Nat, "this is actually his first time."

"Hmm," said Rocket, "probably not his last time though, right."

"I hope not," Nat replied.

"I hope not."

* * *

The plan was going well.

Carol had gotten behind him while Rhodey and Bruce were able to restrain his arms and prevent him from wiping them all away with the infinity stones. Then, ti eliminate any future risk, Thor burst through the wall, bringing Stormbreaker around in a graceful twirl and brought it down on Thanos' left arm, severing it from his body. Bucky and the rest could hear Thanos cry out as they walked up to the entrance Carol had conveniently left for them. They didn't feel particularly sympathetic.

"Miss me, asshole!" Peter exclaimed as he entered Thanos' hut

As the remaining Avengers walked in, Rocket turned over the severed arm of Thanos to see the stones, only to find that the gauntlet was empty.

"Oh no," was he had to say.

Bucky and Nat looked down at the gauntlet in horror, what were they going to do now?

"Where are they?" Bucky demanded in a low, dangerous tone.

"Answer the question!" Carol growled in the mad titan's ear.

"The universe required correction," said Thanos, "after that, the stones served no purpose beyond temptation."

That was when Bruce snapped.

"You murdered trillions!" he yelled as he pushed over the mad titan who had so thoroughly destroyed their lives.

"You should be grateful," Thanos snarled before the iron-clad fist of Bruce Banner met his face.

"Where are the stones?" Nat asked in a trembling voice.

"Gone. Reduced to atoms," Thanos responded.

"You used them two days ago," Bruce remarked.

"I used the stones to destroy the stones," Thanos explained cryptically, "it nearly killed me, but the work is done, it always will be. I am... inevitable."

Peter had a white-knuckle grip on his blasters. He desperately wanted to be the one to put Thanos down.

"We have to tear this place apart, he... he has to be lying," stammered Rhodey, looking for some faint glimmer of hope.

"My father is many things," said Nebula, "a liar is not one of them."

"Ah," Thanos turned to face his adopted daughter, "thank you daughter, perhaps I treated to too harshl-"

Suddenly, with a mighty roar, Thor swung Stormbreaker around and brought it through Thanos' neck, severing the head. A head who's was blown apart by a pulse blast from one of Quill's blasters before the ax had even fully passes through Thanos' neck. Purple blood sprayed everywhere, coating Thor's face as well as the ax head of Stormbreaker. A fleck of blood splattered across Nebula's cheek.

For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the gathered heroes.

"What did you do?" Rocket asked in an astonished tone.

"I went for the head," Thor responded simply, his voice choked with emotion.

With that, the thunder god turned and left the shack, his red cape shimmering in the sunlight. Leaving all the others in a dazed stupor. Peter's blaster was still raised, a expression full of rage and loss still played out on his face. A single tear leaked from his eye. Bucky held his head low, he had failed. He had failed the entire universe once again. And even more importantly, he had failed Steve once again as well.

**"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury."**

**\- Marcus Aurelius**

**(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated lately. Things have been kind if a rush ****lately but I do hope to be putting out chapters more frequently from now on for the foreseeable future. As always, reviews are always appreciated. Feel free to let me know what you liked, what you didn't like and/or what you want to see more of.)**


	8. Falling Apart

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Eight**

**"Falling Apart"**

**"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."**

**\- Lance Armstrong**

**Thanos' world:**

The crew walked back to the Milano in a daze. Bucky looked up n time to see a multi-colored beam shoot up in the sky further out in the field. Thor had taken the Bifrost out into the cosmos. They only hoped that the thunder god had not abandoned them.

When the group reached the Milano, they quietly found their seats. Nat, in a move no one could've predicted, layed her head down n Bucky's shoulder. For a moment, Bucky's eyes widened. He didn't expect such a move from Nat, nor was he used to having such contact with other people.

The Milano's engines hummed on. Peter felt the need to break the silence.

"Back to Earth, right?" He asked quietly.

There was no clear leader among the remnants of the Avengers, however, Bucky had taken charge before the raid on Thanos' hut, so he answered.

"Yeah, take us home," he responded.

The repairs to the Milano before their trip to Thanos' world had been minimal due to the lack of parts available. The Milano would stay at its next destination for a long time. Earth may be the world Peter was born on but he didn't consider it do be his home. He had no desire to return to the world where his mother had died, and why would he? The universe was a vast place. There was no reason for him to face his past.

"Alright, Earth it is," Peter replied, keeping his inner turmoil to himself.

With that, the Milano hit the jump point and were sent back to Earth.

* * *

**Avenger's Compound, Upstate New York:**

The Milano landed in front of the Avenger's compound, bathed in the light of a new sunrise. They saw a rather peculiar sight in front the compound's main entrance. An Audi RB V10 with a open trailer attached to the back. The trailer had several gadgets and mechanical parts on it that were clearly property of Tony Stark.

"Nice ride," Rocket remarked as they passed the car.

When they walked in the door, they saw a pile of suitcases near the entry-way.

"Oh, dear," Nat said quietly.

Suddenly they heard an artificial-sounding Irish woman's voice overhead.

"Boss, they're back" said Friday.

As she said that, Tony Stark rounded the corner. Only now, his skin wasn't death;y pale, his cheeks weren't sunken. He was dressed simply in jeans and a black hoodie with his signature glasses.

"Well, well, well," he said smugly, "How'd it go, not great I'd assume since half the population is still gone."

"Stark," Bucky started, "now really isn't the time."

"You guys are alive; can't say I expected that," Tony continued as if Bucky hadn't spoken.

"Come on, Tony," implored Rhodey, "are friends are dead and all you can do is gloat?"

"I knew it wouldn't work!" said Tony, "there's no way to beat him! Thanos is unbeatable."

"I wouldn't say that. We killed him," said Carol flatly.

"But even in death his goal was accomplished," said Nebula mournfully.

"Oh come on, you're taking his side," Rhodey gasped.

Tony was Rhodey's best friend, but now, he was a broken man.

"Where are you going?" Bruce asked.

"Pepper and I are leaving, we're leaving to build are own house away from this shit show," Tony answered vehemently.

As he said that, Pepper rounded the same corner Tony had come around moments before.

"Tony, are we ready to go?" she inquired as well.

"Ya, I'm just loading up the bags now," he answered slowly as he bent down to grab two of the suitcase, he was glaring at the other heroes before him.

"You can't just leave us," Rhodey insisted.

"Yeah, actually, I can!" Tony spat back, "there's nothing left for us to do. The Avengers are gone!"

"Not yet," Bucky said quietly.

"You don't count," Tony snapped back.

"You could at least help us rebuild what's left of humanity, maybe restore some order to the world," Bucky pressed.

"No," Tony responded firmly, "I've lost too much already, I failed once and I'm not willing to do it again."

Rhodey knew he would miss his friend, but he also knew, or at least hoped, that being alone with just Pepper would be the catharsis he needed.

"Best wishes, Tony, I hope you find what you're looking for," He told Tony genuinely.

Tony looked at him with some surprise.

"Thanks, Rhodey, I'll see on the flip-side."

Tony passed between the group of heroes with the bags, Pepper followed him close behind. Tony and Pepper loaded the suitcases into the small trunk their Audi had and put the remaining luggage on the trailer. Everyone watched silently as the car sped away from the compound. Bucky had some remorse that he'd never been able to reconcile with Tony. However, Bucky had yet to reconcile his actions with himself yet so there was still plenty of room to grow as well.

* * *

Later that night night, the group was sitting in the living room, talking about life and what to do now. They also consumed copious amounts of alcohol. In had no effect on Bucky, Nebula, and Carol, to to super-soldier serum, cybernetic parts, and super powers respectively. Rocket laughed loudly an unfunny joke from Bruce, resulting in a chorus of drunken laughter. Bucky was shocked to see Nat was joining in on the laughter, heavily intoxicated.

"You know," Peter slurred, "it's been a long time since I've had any Earth bear."

"Why's that?" Asked Nat in an uneven tone, "I can't imagine anyone from Earth actively staying away from it when they have a _spaceship_."

Peter's mood immediately sobered.

"My.. my mom died here," the amount of booze he had consumed made him spill information that he would've kept close to the chest, unless he was talking to Gamora, of course. "She got cancer, I was only a kid. Right after she died, I was taken by Yondu and his crew. Even after I got my own ship I didn't want to come back here at all. I mean, why would I? Of all the planets in the universe, why would I want to stay on the one where my mom died."

"I'm sorry," said Nat quietly.

"It's not all bad," Peter continued. "Times sure have changed since the eighties, the music got weird, though."

"I can agree with that," Bucky and Carol said at the same time.

They were, after all, both two individuals out of time. The group toasted to that. To music, of all things. It seemed rather inconsequential, but it reminded them of their humanity, a reminder that some of the desperately needed.

That night, several of the Heroes passed out on the couches in the living room. Carol and Nebula too the quarters of some of the now-deceased Avengers. After carrying an unconscious Natasha back to her room, Bucky found himself outside of Steve's quarters; it seemed like the most logical place for him to bunk, yet still so strange, almost as if he were trespassing on private property. He entered anyway. The inside was sparsely decorated. Only an American flag adorned adorned the walls. On the nightstand, however, there were two pictures, one of Peggy Carter and one of him and Steve, the very same photo Bucky carried with him everywhere.

Bucky changed into his sweat pants and tank top. He then set his Colt 45 on the nightstand next to the pictures. One could never be too careful when they had as many dangerous enemies as Bucky did. He lied down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

His memories from the war played out before his eyes as if he were watching a screenplay. He saw his division being captured and Steve's rescue mission. He saw the missions of the Howling Commandos, including that fateful day on the train. the memories of his transformation into the Winter Soldier still made him wince as he thought of the splitting pain. Bucky tried to turn away, to close his eyes, as he relived every kill, every assassination, and every other crime he had committed for HYDRA.

Bucky didn't realize it, but he had sweat trough his sheets. He covered his head as the memories continued to flash across his eyes. Eventually, he fell into a light sleep. The memories on the edge of his mind, never quite leaving him alone, even as he slept.

* * *

That morning, Everyone woke up at different times. When Bucky went into the kitchen/living room area for some coffee and toast, Bruce and Rhodey were nursing cups of tea, likely to nullify the hangover's effect. Quill and Rocket were still asleep on the couches.

"Good morning, gents," Bucky greeted the duo cheerfully.

Bruce grumbled a reply. Bucky couldn't help but grin at their state. Back in the forties, he had experienced quite a few hangovers. One of the few benefits of his augmentation and transformation into the Winter Soldier was that he couldn't get drunk, and thus, couldn't get hungover.

As he brewed his mug of coffee, Nat walked in the room in a black tank top and matching sweat pants. She too was clearly suffering from s headache as well, judging by the groan that came from her lips and the hand she had placed on her head.

"Let's not do that again," she said tiredly.

Bucky couldn't help but chuckle. Nat turned and shot a glare at him that could pierce vibranium.

"Oh, laugh it up," she growled.

Carol too entered the kitchen area.

"Hey guys," she said pleasantly. Quickly, her eyes turned to the miserable forms of Rhodey and Bruce. "Sleep well?" she asked mischievously.

Rhodey looked up at Bucky and Carol.

"Not all of us have super powers, you know?" he retorted.

Bucky and Carol, who had already been holding in laughter, busted out laughing. All the while, Nat, Rhodey, and Bruce glared daggers at them. Suddenly, the antics were interrupted by a groan from the couch. Peter's head poked up above the back of the seat.

"Look who's finally awake," said Rhodey.

The group heard a thump caused by Rocket unintentionally rolling off the couch he had been sleeping on. The entire group burst out into laughter, much to Rocket's annoyance.

"Shut up!" he yelled angrily.

The laughter only got louder, especially from Peter. Before the antics could get any more out of hand, Bruce got up.

"I'll make some breakfast for everyone," he said.

Bruce was, after all, a surprisingly good cook.

* * *

After eating a delectable pancake breakfast, courtesy of Bruce, the group decided to hold a meeting to decide what to do now, with the world, and galaxy at large, in such a state of turmoil.

"We've got to do something," said Rhodey.

"I agree," Nat concurred, "We can't just sit back and watch the world burn when we have the capability to help so many."

Bucky and Carol both nodded.

"What can we really do, though?" asked Bruce.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe committing some of our highly advanced technology to the cause?" Nat snapped.

That gave Bucky an idea.

"We could contact T'Challa, surely he'd be willing to help us now," he suggested.

Peter, Carol, Rocket, and Nebula were very confused by this suggestion, though they did not raise any concerns.

"I don't know," said Rhodey, "they might not go for that."

"We should at least try," Bucky persisted.

"Alright," Rhodey conceded, "we don't really have anything to lose even he does turn us down."

They agreed to contact T'Challa.

The Avengers' compound was fitted with a highly-advanced holographic communication system that was set up to accommodate many callers in one of the compound's conference rooms. Wakanda had a similar setup. Shortly after the call was made, the holographic panel flickered on to show a three-dimensional model of king T'Challa himself.

It was clear that he hadn't been getting much sleep from the rings around his eyes to the disheveled state of his clothing.

"It's good to see you again, my friends," he greeted pleasantly, "How can I be of assistance?"

"I'm sorry but we're once again asking for your help," said Bucky.

"Ah," responded T'Challa, "I'm beginning to see a pattern here."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but with the way things are now, we can't think of anyone an Earth with better assets and a hopefully willing heart to help restore some semblance of balance and order to the world," Bucky explained.

"We just need some Wakandan technology to fix damage and rebuild some kind of infrastructure," Nat finished for Bucky.

"I see," T'Challa pondered the proposition before him. "We Wakandans value our autonomy, you know this. We may have joined the United Nations but we're still not giving the world all of our vibranium tools," T'Challa said firmly.

"I understand, but I think now, more than ever, is the time to set those concerns aside and help the greater good," Bucky kept pushing.

"I'll see what I can do," T'Challa conceded, "but I must still seek the approval of my people, they must have some kind of say in such an important matter."

"Very well," said Bucky, "thank you so much, my friend."

"Feel free to call anytime, I'll let you know what the verdict is," said T'Challa as the hologram faded off.

* * *

Later, when the group was eating dinner, Carol had a suggestion.

"We need to start thinking about the bigger picture," she said simply.

"Care to elaborate?" responded Rhodey.

"Earth is in complete disarray. We can only assume that the rest of the universe is in a similar state," she answered.

"What are you suggesting?" asked Bucky.

"Some of us should help other worlds recover, The Guardians and I are used to interplanetary travel and warping around, we'll go out and report back here using the hologram network while you guys help restore Earth," Carol explained.

"You're not wrong," Rhodey acknowledged.

"It's a good idea, for sure," Bucky concurred.

Peter nodded his head. He just wanted something to keep him busy. It quiet moments like those of the last few days, his thoughts wondered, mostly to Gamora. He was lost without her. Not only her, but Drax, Groot, and Mantis as well; he had failed everyone he cared for, now he had to make it up somehow. This seemed like the best way to do so to him.

"I'm in," he said firmly.

"Not without me," added Rocket.

"Me too," Nebula added as well.

She too had felt Gamora's death greatly. Ut had made her not only question her past decisions put regretted them immensely.

"It's settled the," Carol said, very satisfied with herself.

"How are the repairs on the Milano going?"asked Bucky.

"Good, all things considered," replied Peter.

"When do you think she'll be ready?" Bucky inquired.

"Soon," Peter replied, "probably in like two days."

Bruce seemed oddly dejected. He had looking down for a while now, which Natasha, of course, took notice of.

"What's wrong, Bruce?" she asked.

For a few moments there was no answer.

"I can't do this any more," he said, his replied heavy with emotion.

"What do you meet?" Asked a confused Nat.

"I mean I can't do this anymore," Bruce responded louder, "I can't keep making plans and doing hero stuff. I done."

"What!?" Exclaimed a shocked Natasha.

"I've done nothing except fail ever since Thanos attacked Thor and I. Hulk got his ass kicked, then, he came to Earth and kicked Banner's ass, and then, we went to him and Banner failed again." Bruce replied in a fiery tone.

"Bruce... I understand what it's like to lose, we've all lost a lot lately but that's no excuse to give up," Nat tried to encourage him.

"I... I just need to work some things out on my own for a while," Bruce replied quietly.

They rest of the group watched the exchanged shocked.

"Fine," Nat's expression hardened. She had nothing else to say.

Neither did Bruce. He got up and walked out of the room. He packed his things and left in one of Tony's cars. All while the group sat in a stunned silence.

**"Family is not abut blood. It's about who is willing to hold your hand when you need it the most."**

**\- Unknown**


	9. Five Years Later

**The Inevitable**

**Chapter Nine**

**"Five Years Later"**

**"Do you not know that a man is not dead as long as his name is still spoken****"**

**\- Terry Pratchett**

The streets were deserted. The were considered Verde in the accumulation of five years of trash. Garbage bags, broken TVs, among other busted up junk flogged the sides of the street. No cars drove. What had once been one of the busiest metropolitan areas in the world had gone almost entirely quiet.

The time directly following The Snap had been called, "The Great Panic." Planes had literally fallen from the sky since their pilots had been vanished. Cruise ships lost at sea with no one qualified left aboard to take the passengers back to land. News networks had been rushing to find an answer to find out what happened. The people left alive flogged in the streets, raided grocery stores for food. Modern infrastructure completely broke down and the stock market crashed.

The United Nations, NATO, the World Health Organization, and the Central for Disease Control and handed together to contain The Panic.

Nevertheless, it was madness.

In the early days and weeks, even months, the Avengers still on Earth, then being Bucky, Nat, and Rhodey, had coordinated with the remnants of the NYPD to contain the riots, non-lethally, or course.

After that, Bucky had wanted the quiet life. He bought a nice apartment in Brooklyn. He now spent most his days going about normal tasks. He walked most everywhere he went, since gas was in such short supply, though he did occasionally drive his motorcycle up to the Avengers Compound to visit Nat and Rhodey, mostly to see Nat.

Rhodey, as it turned out, was rarely at the compound. He was still on the trail of Clint Barton, Hawkeye, or rather, Ronin, as he was called now. It appeared that Barton, after the loss of his family, had wished to be not only the world's greatest archer, but the world's greatest swordsman as well. He had traveled all around the world learning the art of swordsmanship and eliminating several groups of bad guys and thugs that had used The Panic to seize power over an area or take advantage of the lack of general law and order to subject others to their will.

Though the Ronin's methods were brutal and unrelenting.

Rooms full of the bodies of thugs and gangsters had been discovered in Boston, Dublin, London, Liverpool, Rome, Naples, Hamburg, Oslo, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, and Caracas over the last two years. Their bodies had been riddled with sword cuts and splashes and, it course, arrow wounds, though no he arrows had been retrieved from the bodies by the archer.

However that was none of Bucky's concern at the moment. Currently, he had no problems. He lived a quiet, it not slightly desolate existence. He spent most of his time outside his apartment at the shooting range outside the city of in a particularly good bar in Queens. His only friends were Nat and, if he could truly be counted, Rhodes.

Presently, Bucky was in his motorcycle going to the Avengers' Compound. It had been a while since he'd last seen Natasha. The snap had taken an especially heavy tool on her. She had been good friends with Steve, who had died. She's been even closer with Clint, who had gone rouge. And Bruce had abandoned her And The team.

Nevertheless, she persevered. She continued to run the Avengers, or whatever one could call the merger of the few Avengers left and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Though one could argue that all her gusto and determination was merely a facade and that it was all an elaborate coping mechanism.

The white buildings of the compound had come into view. Bucky parked his motorcycle just in front of the main building. The door was unlocked so he just walk right in.

He found Nat sitting at a table with her hands over her face. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. No doubt she had just finished a holographic meeting, likely including some unsavory story of Barton's recent activity. Bucky sat on one of the chairs that surrounded the table.

"Need a pick-me-up?" asked Bucky, "because I think you'll love my shepherd's pie."

In recent years, Bucky had become quite the master chef. He found it cathartic, liberating. Plus, nothing lifts one's spirits like a hearty meal.

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Did you come here to do you're laundry?" she asked.

"To see a friend," Bucky responded seriously.

Nat leaned back.

"Clearly your friend is doing fine," she responded.

The despondent look in her eyes and overall worn look of sadness on her face betrayed that notion quite thoroughly.

"You definitely need that shepherd's pie,," said Bucky with a smile.

Nat returned the smile, though it seemed half-hearted.

"You seem to be doing good for yourself," she said.

"It seems that the world has forgotten all about the Winter Solder," replied Bucky.

It was clear to see that his demons continued to haunt him after all the time that had passed.

"Lucky you," remarked Nat.

Lucky, that was not a word that many would use to describe Bucky Barnes.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments.

"The more I look around, the more I see people starting to move on... grow," said Bucky, "but not us."

"If I move on than who does this?" she responded hotly.

"I never said you should stop," said Bucky, "I mean, look at me! It still feels like yesterday when Thanos showed up on Earth and kicked our sorry asses. All I'm saying is that maybe you should tone it down, try living a life, it's worked out surprisingly well for me!"

He may have said that he had a life, but that was an overstatement. His life consisted of waking up, working out, cooking, eating, and sleeping. That was it. And Nat knew it.

"I used to have nothing, and then I got this. This job, this family," Nat said, her voice full of emotion, "and I was better because of it. And even though they're gone, I'm still trying to be better."

"Maybe we should both get a life," considered Bucky.

Nat smirked.

"You first."

Suddenly, they heard a voice through one of the gate cams. Bucky looked over at the cam footage to see a shaggy man with dark hair, standing next to an ugly, brown van.

It was Scott Lang.

Bucky stood up.

"Is that an old message?" he asked Nat.

"It's the front gate," she responded.

* * *

Scott paced back and forth across the room, scratching his chin. He was mumbling incoherently under his breath.

"Scott," Bucky grabbed the man's attention, "are you okay?"

Scott stopped his pacing. He said what sounded like a "yeah" and put his hands over his face.

He perked up suddenly.

"Have either one of you ever studied quantum physics?" he asked quickly.

"Only to make conversation," replied Nat, after a long pause.

"Alright," Scott began, "so, five years ago, right before... Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe, to get in you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my, uh, was my... she was supposed to pull me out, and then, Thanos happened and I got stuck in there."

"Sorry, that must've been a very long five years," said Nat, still not understanding what this was about.

"Yeah, but that's just it," responded Scott, "it wasn't. For me it was five hours. See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anyone's sandwich?"

Scott suddenly stopped. He was pointing at the peanut butter sandwich Nat had been eating before Bucky had arrived.

"I'm starving," he stated as he strode over to the table and, before anyone could react, picked up the sandwich and took an immense bite out of it.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" asked Bucky.

"So what I'm saying is," continued Scott, in between mouthfuls, "time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is, right now, we don't have a way to navigate it; but what if we did?" Scott continued his tangent, "I can't stop thinking about it! What if we could navigate it? What if there was a way we could enter the Quantum realm at a certain point in time but exit it at another point in time? Like... like before Thanos."

"Wait," said Bucky critically, "are you talking about a time machine?"

"No," Scott answered quickly, "of course not, no, not a time machine. More like a, um... yeah, like a time machine, I know, it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it!"

"Scott, I get emails from a raccoon, so, nothing sounds crazy anymore," she reassured the distraught man.

"So who do we talk to about this?" asked Scott.

There was only one answer, of course.

They were going to see Tony Stark.

**"All dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them."**

**\- Walt Disney**


End file.
